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April 22, 2007

Construction Daily

Today was the first day of the newel post installation. For those who've been following along, the first try at anything always involves a few mistakes. Essentially the process involved measuring out the correct distances for placing the newel posts along the edge of the floor, according to code. Then the newel post is set in place and checked for level, which of course it never is. For decoration, I wanted the newel posts to look like they were held in place with pegs similar to the timberframe, thus I first created a 1" diameter hole about an inch deep, which would later hold dowel plugs.

Then holes are augered through the newel post into the timberframe and lag bolts are started. Once the lag bolts are almost tight, I inserted shims behind the post to bring it into level. Then I tightened down the two lag bolts. The last step was to glue in the dowel plugs and tape them in place until the glue sets.

So you can imagine it took a few posts to get this down to an organized process, but after a while it started to go pretty fast and the posts look great against the timberframe.

After putting most of the day on the newel posts, I had to get out to the vineyard to finish nailing trellis wire. Jim was over to help out and we got a few rows nailed up. Before shutting down for the day I covered the basement hallway carpet with heavy paper and plywood to protect it from the ongoing construction and upcoming move-in. Long-ass day but got a ton done!

Daily hours = 14
Total hours = 498

Check out the pics.

Posted by Stephen at April 22, 2007 10:59 PM